Elphaba Thropp
Elphaba Thropp is the name of the woman that becames the Wicked Witch of the West in Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire, as well as in the Brodway adaptation. The author formulated the name out of L. Frank Baum's name, taking the phonetic pronunciation of his initials: hence, L.F.B became El-pha-ba. She was Glinda's best friend and roomate at Shiz. She studied sorcery and was a powerful witch. She becames the Wicked Witch of the West after refusing to help the Wizard, who was a fraud. Life In the Novel Elphaba is green. She is the illegitimate daughter of Melena Thropp and a traveling salesman who is very strongly hinted to be the Wizard of Oz. Elphaba does not discover who her true father was until late in her life, and grows up believing that her mother's husband Frexspar is her father. Her mother's promiscuity is perhaps the reason why her skin is green. Through her mother, she can lay claim to the highest held title of Munchkinland, the Eminent Thropp. Frexspar, the unionist minister and missionary, is her mother’s husband. Nessarose (later the Wicked Witch of the East), and Shell, the Emperor of Oz after the wizard's departure, are her half siblings. Because of her noble ancestry, Elphaba bears the title of "Thropp Third Descending". Frex always favors Nessarose over Elphaba, a source of constant resentment in Elphaba's life. Nessarose is seen to embody the qualities which the zealous Frex desires in a daughter, and which Elphaba lacks: Elphaba has no religious faith, but Nessarose is almost ridiculously pious. Although both girls possess physical abnormalities (Nessarose was born without arms, possibly due to use of the pills her mother took during pregnancy to prevent her next born child from also being green), Nessarose is considered as beautiful whereas Elphaba is generally seen as freakishly ugly. During her visit to Munchkinland near the end of the fourth section of the book, Elphaba discovers that the Quadling Turtle Heart may in fact have fathered Nessarose. Both Melena and Frex were in love with Turtle Heart, so Nessarose always meant more to Frex than Elphaba did. Elphaba attends Shiz University where she becomes best friends with Galinda (later "Glinda") and Boq. She also meets Fiyero, who later falls in love with her. Nessarose later joins Elphaba at Shiz. Frex sends Nessarose a beautiful pair of jeweled slippers as a gift(these slippers are later enchanted by Glinda to enable Nessarose to walk without assistance). Elphaba pretends not to care that she received no gift from their father, but toward the end of the novel, the shoes become an obsession for her, as she sees them as a symbol of Frex's favoritism. Disgusted with the ever-more tyranical and anti-Animal policies of the Wizard, Elphaba drops out of Shiz and takes up residence in the Emerald City, where she joins a resistance movement. Five years later, she unexpectedly meets with Fiyero, and the two begin an illicit love affair, ultimately conceiving a child together, a boy named Liir. During the affair, Elphaba refuses to allow Fiyero to see her naked. They only make love in the dark. Eventually, Fiyero does see her naked, and sees a scar between her hips. This is never explained, but several times in the novel, it's hinted that Elphaba was born with male parts. She was mistaken for a boy at birth, and in the introduction, her possible hermaphroditic body is gossiped about. After Elphaba fails to assassinate Madame Morrible, Fiyero is murdered by the Gale Force (the Wizard's secret police). Severely traumatised, Elphaba lapses into a coma for a year, and is cared for in a mauntery (nunnery). Liir is apparently carried to term while Elphaba is in this state, and because of this Elphaba is uncertain as to whether or not she actually is the boy's mother. Liir's maternity is never explicitly stated in the book, but he later sires a child with green skin, suggesting that Elphaba is indeed his mother; Maguire has also described Liir as "Elphaba's son" in interviews.2 Following her emergence from her coma, Elphaba spends another year recuperating and a further seven tending the terminally ill in the mauntery. After this, she attempts to seek forgiveness for the death of Fiyero from his wife, Sarima, who welcomes her and allows her to live at Fiyero's castle of Kiamo Ko. Though Elphaba had only intended to stay at Kiamo Ko until she has received Sarima's forgiveness, Sarima refuses to listen to her story, and she resigns herself to living in the castle indefinitely. Sarima also calles Elphaba 'Auntie', although her children end up calling her Auntie Witch behind her back (Elphaba eventually gives in to this name even though she resented it before). Though Elphaba had originally considered sorcery to be nothing more than "entertainment", and was not interested in studying the art, she is revealed to have taken correspondence courses in magic during her time living in the Emerald City. While living at Kiamo Ko, Elphaba discovers the Grimmerie (a book containing vast magical knowledge) in the attic of the castle. Using the limited amount of information that she can decipher from the cryptic book, she begins to practice sorcery with greater success than ever before. When the Wizard’s forces murder Sarima and capture Nor, Elphaba is left unsatisfied and plunges into madness. After Nessarose is crushed by Dorothy Gale's house, Elphaba attends her sister's funeral, where she meets with Glinda. The two are originally happy to be reunited, but when Elphaba learns that Glinda has given Nessarose's shoes to Dorothy, she is enraged, and this sparks a conflict between the two women which remains unresolved at the time of Elphaba's death. Elphaba hunts Dorothy down in an attempt to wrest the shoes from her. Dorothy later comes to the castle asking Elphaba's forgiveness for having killed her sister, but Elphaba dies before being able to grant forgiveness of her own: Dorothy kills her while trying to save her from a fire, not realizing that the witch is vulnerable to water. This bucket splash connects to the fable of Saint Aelphaba, for whom Elphaba is named, who was said to disappear beyond a waterfall, and never return. This in turn ties Elphaba to the stories Sarima tells her children about a wicked witch who disappears into a cave. At the end of the story, the children always ask if the witch ever comes out, to which Sarima replies "not yet". At the end of the book, this dialogue is repeated, suggesting that Elphaba will eventually rise again. Just before being absorbed into the Grimmerie in A Lion Among Men, the oracle known as Yackle also claims that "She's coming back-", although to whom this refers is never made explicitely clear. In interviews, Maguire has stated that a witch may die but will always come back, no matter what. In the Musical For the musical Wicked, Elphaba was written to be less cynical, more likable, and far more sympathetic than the novel counterpart. In the book, Elphaba virtually goes mad, and genuinely becomes "wicked", though understandably so; however in the musical, she is merely carried away by her emotions for a period after the deaths of several of those closest to her. Liir, Sarima and her children are not present in the musical, and a love triangle with Fiyero and Glinda exists instead of the posthumous one (after Fiyero's death) with Sarima. The young Elphaba shows interest in sorcery from the beginning of her education, as opposed to having it thrust upon her as in the book. Elphaba is explicitly shown to survive at the end, and goes to live a life beyond Oz with Fiyero, where in the book her impending resurrection is only hinted. Elphaba is also the creator of the Tin Woodman (through a spell to save Boq, who had had his heart shrunken to apparent non-existence by Nessarose), the Scarecrow (through a spell with which she attempts to save Fiyero from being tortured to death on her account) and the Cowardly Lion (the Lion Cub she rescued from the class after Doctor's Dillamond's removal); in the book the former is a result of an axe bewitched by Nessarose, and the latter's existence has nothing to do with Fiyero, other than her slight suspicion that he might indeed be her love coming back to find her, which just proves to be a paranoid delusion. Elphaba also has a less significant vendetta with Madame Morrible in the musical than in the book: In the novel, Elphaba relentlessly attempts to kill Morrible, but in the musical, Elphaba has virtually nothing to do with her after the conclusion of the first act. Her relationship with Glinda (called "Galinda" until she renames herself in the latter part of the first act in honor of Doctor Dillamond) is a central feature of the musical. As in the novel, the two initially despise each other, but eventually develop a strong friendship. For a while, Elphaba goes along with Glinda's attempts to make her popular, but her rebellious and revolutionary nature ultimately forces her to reject both social and political popularity in favor of doing what she knows to be right in fighting to save the Animals. Just prior to Elphaba's supposed melting, the two confess that each has been changed by their friendship: Elphaba admits that Glinda was the only friend she ever had, and Glinda replies that Elphaba was the only friend she has ever had who really mattered. Elphaba demonstrates a natural talent in the field of sorcery early in the musical, and is selected by Madame Morrible to be tutored personally. She progresses quickly, and is eventually called before the Wizard of Oz himself, with a view to becoming his "magic Grand Vizier". However, when she learns that the Wizard is in fact a powerless fraud, Elphaba steals the Grimmerie from him and sets herself up as a rebel. In retaliation, the Wizard has Madame Morrible spread the rumor that Elphaba is a "Wicked Witch", to turn the public against her. She becomes the subject of national hatred thereafter, and her attempts to convince the people as to the Wizard's corrupt rule are regarded as slander. As more and more of her friends turn against her, Elphaba gradually comes to accept her reputation as a villain, and the supposed death of Fiyero is what finally causes her to embrace it completely. However, when she realizes that Fiyero has in fact survived, Elphaba acknowledges the mistakes she has made in her life, and decides to get a fresh start outside of Oz. In the musical, Elphaba's aversion to water is no more than one of several ridiculous rumors started by those who fear her. Elphaba uses this to her advantage by disappearing when Dorothy throws a bucket of water at her, fooling everyone into believing she has been killed, even though she just went down a trapdoor. The role of Elphaba was originally played on Broadway and in London by Idina Menzel, who won the 2004 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her performance. Portrayers Broadway Production *Idina Menzel (2003-2005) *Shoshana Bean (2005-2006) *Eden Espinosa (2006) *Ana Gasteyer (2006-2007) *Julia Murney (2007) *Stephanie J. Block (2007-2008) *Kerry Ellis (2008) *Marcie Dodd (2008-2009) *Nicole Parker (2009) *Dee Roscioli (2009 - Present) Broadway Standbys *Eden Espinosa (2003-2004) *Shoshana Bean (2004-2005) *Saycon Sengbloh (2005-2007) *Lisa Brescia (2007-2008) *Julie Reiber (2008-2009) *Jennifer DiNoia (2009 - Present) 1st National Tour Production *Stephanie J. Block (2005-2006) *Kristy Cates (2005) *Eden Espinosa (2005) *Julia Murney (2006) *Shoshana Bean (2006) *Victoria Matlock (2007) *Carmen Cusack (2007-2008) *Donna Vivino (2008 - Present) 1st National Tour Standbys *Victoria Matlock (2006) *Coleen Sexton (2007) *Donna Vivino (2007-2008) *Meredith Kaye Clark (2008 - March 2009, April 2009 - Present) *Stephanie Torns (March - April 2009) Chicago Production *Ana Gasteyer (2005-2006) *Kristy Cates (2006) *Dee Roscioli (2006-2008, 2008-2009) *Lisa Brescia (2008) Chicago Standbys *Kristy Cates (2005-2006) *Dee Roscioli (2006) *Carmen Cusack (2006-2007) *Jennifer DiNoia (2007-2009) London Production *Idina Menzel (2006) *Kerry Ellis (2007-2008, 2008-2009) *Alexia Khadime (2008, 2009) London Standbys *Kerry Ellis (2006) *Shona White (2007) *Cassidy Janson (2007-2008) *Ashleigh Gray (2008 - Present) Los Angeles Production *Eden Espinosa (2007, 2008-2009) *Caissie Levy (2008) *Teal Wicks (2008) Los Angeles Stanbys *Julie Reiber (2007) *Caissie Levy (2007) *Teal Wicks (2008) *Marcie Dodd (2008) *Vicki Noon (2008-2009) Tokyo Production *Megumi Hamada (2007-2008) *Asami Higuchi (2008-2009) Stuttgart Production *Willemijn Verkaik (2007-2010) Stuttgart Alternates *Sabrina Weckerlin (2007-2008) *Roberta Valentini (2008-2010) Melbourne Production *Amanda Harrison (2008 - May 2009, August 2009 - September 2009) Melbourne Standbys *Jemma Rix (2008 - May 2009, August 2009 - September 2009) *Carmen Cusack (June 2009 - July 2009) *Zoe Gertz (July 2009 - August 2009) San Francisco Production *Teal Wicks (January 2009 - March 2009, May 2009 - Present) *Vicki Noon (March 2009 - May 2009) San Francisco Standbys *Vicki Noon (January 2009 - March 2009, May 2009 - Present) *Merideth Kaye Clark (March 2009 - April 2009) *Dee Roscioli (April 2009) *Angel Reda (April 2009 - May 2009) 2nd National Tour *Marcie Dodd (2009) *Carrie Manolakos (2009 - Present) 2nd National Tour Standbys *Carrie Manolakos (2009) Trzin Production *Nives Završnik (2009 - Present) Trzin Standbys *Nika Manevski (2009 - Present) Sydney Production *Amanda Harrison (2009) Sydney Standbys *Jemma Rix (2009) New Orleans Production *Solange Knowles (2010) External Links * Elphaba - Oz Wiki * Elphaba - Wikipedia Category:Characters of Wicked Category:Witches